SpongeBob SquarePants
SpongeBob SquarePants & Star vs. the Forces of Evil: The Musical Movie! is a 2018 American crossover animated musical action adventure comedy-drama film directed by Dominic Bisignano and Paul Tibbitt and produced by Paramount Animation, Universal Pictures, Nickelodeon Movies, The Kerner Entertainment Company, Belisarius Productions, and United Plankton Pictures and distributed by Paramount Pictures in North America and Universal Pictures in International. It is a crossover between ''SpongeBob SquarePants and Star vs. the Forces of Evil. The plot follows Star Butterfly and Marco Diaz, who, along with other characters from their show, have been sent to Bikini Bottom and see SpongeBob and the gang, and they have a musical. However, Plankton and Shadow Moth plan to destroy Bikini Bottom and taking over Echo Creek, Mewni, and the world. So SpongeBob, Star, and the gang are going to save Bikini Bottom with music. A crossover musical film between SpongeBob SquarePants and Star vs. the Forces of Evil were announced in April 2015, following the success of The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water. Dominic Bisignano and Paul Tibbitt were announced to direct. The film's animation required up to 140 animators, the largest crew used by Nickelodeon Movies. The film was dedicated to the memory of creator of SpongeBob SquarePants, Stephen Hillenburg, who died nearly 2 weeks before the film was released. This film is dedicated to his memory. SpongeBob SquarePants and Star vs. The Forces of Evil: The Musical Movie ''had its world premiere at the Regency Village Theater in Los Angeles on December 1, 2018, and was theatrically released in the United States on December 14, 2018. The film received universal acclaim, and proved to be a box office success, earning $365 million on a budget of $73 million (outgrossing each of the ''SpongeBob SquarePants ''films), making it the tenth-highest-grossing animated film of 2018. It won numerous accolades, including the Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film, the BAFTA Award for Best Animated Film, eight Annie Awards (including Best Animated Feature), and two Critics' Choice Awards for Best Animated Film and Best Original Song ("Where Are You"). At the 91st Academy Awards, it became the tenth animated film overall (after ''Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, Finding Nemo, Shrek 2, Computeropolis 2, Up, Toy Story 3, and Frozen) to receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture. The film received four more Academy Award nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Sound Editing, Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song, winning the latter two. It was also the first animated Nickelodeon film to win the Oscar for Best Animated Feature since 2011's Rango. ''A sequel, spin-off, and television series are in development. Plot During the beginning of the movie, the Nickelodeon Movies logo has turned off due to the blackout, and the audience exits the theatre, then SpongeBob and Patrick decides to have their own musical with a random cartoon and the movie starts with cropping aspect ratio 2.35.1. When the movie starts, the Earth zooms out and sees Star and Marco's house. Star dreams about her being a hero, when she wakes up, Star and Marco get ready for a big dance. That night, after prom, they get on a train. But when it runs away, Star, Marco, and the gang had to get out of there, but there was no choice, and they got teleported. But when they find it, they find Bikini Bottom, where they meet SpongeBob, Patrick, and everyone in Bikini Bottom. But, when Star's enemies came in too, they joined the fun. Star, SpongeBob, and the gang sing "Bad Romance", followed by SpongeBob and the gang (not counting Star vs. Evil characters) sung "Waiting for a Star to Fall". But when they find it, Plankton wants to destroy Bikini Bottom and renamed "Bikini Bottom" to "Plankton Bottom". He recruits a new villain named Shadow Moth, to take over. Meanwhile, Shadow Moth finds track, she goes and find them, when the gang sings "Shake Your Groove Thing". Squidward discovers the truth about Plankton recruting Shadow Moth while Star, Jackie, Sandy, Ponyhead, and Pearl sing Kids in America. However, Plankton uses mind-controlling buckets disguised as souvenirs to control Bikini Bottom's residents (including Mrs. Puff) and renames the city Planktopolis. Star, SpongeBob, and the gang encounter a dangerous trench to sing all the way to Shell City. They meet Mrs. Heinous, who tries to crush them with her giant boot but is stepped on himself by a "cyclops" (a diver) with Star singing Something Happened on the Way to Heaven. The gang then sings I Want it That Way. At the end of the song, the "cyclops" grabs SpongeBob and Patrick, and goes to his store near the beach. At the store, SpongeBob and Patrick find The Powerpuff Girls Movie DVD, but are nearly killed in a lethal drying-out process. Meanwhile, Star and the gang (minus SpongeBob and Patrick) missed them, and they can't give up. Then Star and Marco sing "Where Are You". Then, they had to go find SpongeBob and Patrick. Their tears short-circuit the heat lamp; its smoke activates the sprinkler system, reviving them and the other dried sea creatures sold as souvenirs. As the sea creatures attack the diver, SpongeBob and Patrick take the crown and head for the beach. When they lose their way home, David Hasselhoff offers them a ride; Mrs. Heinous catches up to them, but is knocked by a catamaran back into the sea. Back at Bikini Bottom, Plankton and Shadow Moth sing "Should I Stay or Should I Go" to everyone in Bikini Bottom. Star arrives to execute them Just in time, SpongeBob and Patrick return with the crown, save them and confront Plankton. Plankton drops a mind-control bucket on Shining A, enslaving him. Then, they sing "Circle of Life". Before the credits, Star, SpongeBob, and the gang save The World and frees Bikini Bottom's residents. Plankton is arrested; SpongeBob and Patrick thanks Star for her bravery. After that, they sing Katy Perry's song "Firework" will be appear in this film. In a post-credits scene, when Ponyhead Walking, Ponyhead said "Oh You Still There? Didn't I Tell You? Time for Bed!". Cast * Eden Sher as Star Butterfly, a magical princess from the dimension of Menwi. * Tom Kenny as SpongeBob SquarePants, and Gary the Snail, SpongeBob's pet snail. * Adam McArthur as Marco Diaz, Star's best friend. * Bill Fagerbakke as Patrick Star, SpongeBob's best friend. * Clancy Brown as Mr. Krabs, SpongeBob's boss. * Alan Tudyk as Ludo and King River Butterfly, Star's father. * Rodger Bumpass as Squidward Tenacles, SpongeBob and Patrick's neighbor. * Grey Griffin as Jackie Lynn Thomas, Marco's boyfriend, and Queen Moon Butterfly, Star's mother. * Carolyn Lawrence as Sandy Cheeks * Jenny Slate as Pony Head * Artt Butler as Rafael Diaz, Marco's father. * Nia Vardalos as Angie Diaz, Marco's mother. * Nate Torrence as Ferguson O'durguson, Marco's friend. * Matt Chapman as Alfonso Dolittle, Marco's other friend. * Lori Alan as Pearl Krabs, Mr. Krabs' daughter. * Jeff Bennett as Principal Skeeves * Dee Dee Rescher as Miss Skullnick * Jon Helder as Oskar Greason * Minae Noji as Brittney Wong * Anne Hathaway as Shadow Moth * Mr. Lawrence as Sheldon J. Plankton * Rider Strong as Tom Lucitor, Star's ex-boyfriend. * Mary Jo Catlett as Mrs. Puff * Jeffrey Tambor as Glossaryck * Jill Talley as Karen Plankton * Michael C. Hall as Toffee * Jessica Walters as Miss Heinous * Abby Elliott as Janna Songs * Bad Romance (sung by Star, SpongeBob and the gang) from Lady Gaga * Waiting for a Star to Fall (sung by Marco, Patrick and the gang) from Boy Meets Girl * Should I Stay or Should I Go? (sung by Plankton and Shadow Moth) from the Clash * Where You Are (sung by Star and Marco) from Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey * Firework (sung by Star, Marco, SpongeBob, Patrick and the gang) from Katy Perry Trailer songs * ??? by ??? Production Development At the 2015 CinemaCon in April, following the financial success of ''The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water, SpongeBob SquarePants creator Stephen Hillenburg and Star vs. The Forces of Evil creator Daron Nefcy announced that a crossover musical film with Star vs. the Forces of Evil and will have a July 20, 2018 release date, and would be directed by Paul Tibbitt and Dominic Bisignano. That December, Paramount and Universal moved the film's release date to December 21, 2018. By June 2016, Hillenburg had written a script for the film. The next month, Alex Hirsch (one of the head writers on Star vs. The Forces of Evil) was revealed to have contributed to the film's story along with Tibbitt and Bisignano. In April 2017, the film's release date was pushed up one week from December 21, 2018, to December 14, 2018. Stephen Hillenburg and Daron Nefcy announced in December that the film was titled SpongeBob SquarePants & Star vs. the Forces of Evil: The Musical Movie!. Casting In December 2015, it was announced the regular series main cast members of SpongeBob SquarePants ''were reportedly returning to reprise their roles from the series and the previous 2004 and 2015 films. In August 2013, casting directors from Marty Siu Casting began casting calls for the background extras for the live action scenes. On January 21, 2016, it was reported that the main cast members of ''Star vs. the Forces of Evil ''signed to reprise their roles from the series. Anne Hathaway joined the cast the following day as Shadow Moth. Animation and Design Animation for the film is handled overseas by Rough Draft Studios in South Korea. Vincent Waller said, "We're getting animation back that is looking terrific." The sequel is a combination of traditional animation and live action as its predecessor was, and also used computer-generated imagery (CGI) to render the characters in 3D. Sherm Cohen, who worked as a character designer and the lead storyboard artist of ''The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie and left the show in 2005, returned to work on the sequel film, and will also work on the new movie. Series animation directors Tom Yasumi and Alan Smart worked on the film's exposure sheets. Most of the character layout crew of the film are from the series. Music Mark Mothersbaugh was announced as the film's composer in July 2018. A full soundtrack album was released by Republic Records on December 14. A separate album containing Mothersbaugh's score was released by Sony Classical Records on December 17. On December 20, Nickelodeon Movies announced an extended play album entitled ''A Very SpongeBob and Stary Christmas, which was based on a throwaway joke at the beginning of the film and consists of five Christmas songs. The EP was released on digital platforms the next day. Release SpongeBob SquarePants & Star vs. The Forces of Evil: The Musical Movie! was released by Paramount Pictures and Universal Pictures on December 14, 2018. In April 2015, following the success of The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water, Paramount and Universal had made its first official announcement that a SpongeBob SquarePants and Star vs. the Forces of Evil crossover musical film was in development, scheduling release for July 20, 2018. At the end of 2015, the release date was poofed to December 21, and two years later, moved up one week. Paramount and Universal premiered the film at the Regency Village Theater in Los Angeles on December 1, 2018, and included tribute to Stephen Hillenburg. Marketing A thirty-second sizzle reel from the film was shown at a Paramount Pictures presentation in January 2017, revealing that the film focuses on SpongeBob and Star. Scott Mendelson at Forbes said the footage "looked incredible [sic] stylized and resembled a cross between an Alex Ross image and a psychedelic cartoon crossover", but felt the most significant element of the presentation was the confirmation of SpongeBob and Star. A 90-second teaser trailer for the film was released online via YouTube on March 21, 2018 and was released in theaters alongside screenings of Paramount's computer-animated comedy film Sherlock Gnomes on March 23, 2018, generating a record 58.2 million views on YouTube in its first week. On June 12, 2018, a second teaser trailer, this one lasting two minutes, was released in theaters with Incredibles 2 three days later. On September 10, 2018, the theatrical release poster was revealed, and the official trailer debuted during the halftime break of Monday Night Football, before being attached to screenings of Cool Spot. In October 2018, a panel to promote the film at New York Comic Con where the first 35 minutes of the film were shown. Tibbitt and Bisignano explained that they chose not to show various clips from throughout the film because they would lack context for the audience, so went with an extended sequence for the presentation even though it had some unfinished animation and music. In November 2018, Sony launched SpongeBob/Star Web AR Experience, a mobile augmented reality experience created by 8th Wall and Trigger to run on Amazon Web Services. Inspired by the film, the AR experience allows users to include Spider-Man in photos that they take of their environment. The film also received a $115 million promotional "boost" from various companies—one of the largest such campaigns for a Paramount film—including the Ad Council, who included the film's characters in an anti-bullying campaign; McDonald's, with a unique Happy Meal TV spot created in the film's animation style, as well as a special "double height" Happy Meal box for Australian McDonald's locations designed like SpongeBob's pineapple; Synchrony Bank as part of their "Save Like SpongeBob and Star" campaign; General Mills cereal; official toy lines from Hasbro; themed cruises with Genting Cruise Lines; a "comprehensive" social media-based campaign in China by Tencent QQ, a brand that can be seen in the film; and other technology partners eBay, Vodafone, Garmin, Adobe, and Wacom. On December 29, 2018, Paramount published the screenplay online. Video game A video game based on the film, titled, SpongeBob SquarePants and Star vs. The Forces of Evil: The Musical Movie Video Game!, was released on December 4, 2018, for PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo 3DS, and PC. Taglines * A Musical you will never forget. * SpongeBob and Star in their own musical movie. (Used on billboards advertising the film) Oscar campaign SBSPASVETMM's "Not since..." Oscar campaign drew a lot of attention, emphasizing the film's uniqueness and critical acclaim. The campaign consisted of posters featuring characters from the film, comparing SpongeBob SquarePants and Star vs. The Forces of Evil: The Musical Movie to previous winners such as The Lord of the Rings, Shakespeare in Love, Titanic, and more. Walt Disney Studios Chairman Rich Ross explained they were going for the Best Picture win, not just Best Animated film. The Hollywood Reporter gave the campaign a bronze award in Key Art Awards Winners 2019. Rating The film is rated PG by the Motion Picture Association of America for "Mild action, rude humor and some thematic elements". Home media SpongeBob SquarePants & Star vs. the Forces of Evil: The Musical Movie! was released on digital download by Paramount Home Media Distribution on February 26, 2019, with Blu-ray, Ultra HD Blu-ray, and DVD releases following on March 19, 2019. All releases will be accompanied by three short films (similar to Illumination's mini-movies), entitled Final, Should We Stay or Should We Go?, and Splash!. Reception Box office SpongeBob SquarePants & Star vs. the Forces of Evil: The Musical Movie! has grossed $180.1 million in the United States and Canada, and $185.2 million in other territories, for a total worldwide gross of $365.3 million, against a production budget of $73 million. On January 31, 2019, the film surpassed The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water to become Nickelodeon Movies' highest grossing film domestically, unadjusted for inflation. It is the tenth highest-grossing 2018 animated film (behind Incredibles 2, Cool Spot, Canterlot High 2: Rainbow Rocks, Ralph Breaks the Internet, Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation, The Grinch, Dog Man, Dick Grayson 2: Tales of a Teenage Boy ''and ''Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse). It is also the third highest-grossing Nickelodeon film (behind Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and The Adventures of Tintin), the second highest-grossing animated Nickelodeon film (behind The Adventures of Tintin), as well as the highest-grossing SpongeBob SquarePants film in the whole franchise. In the United States and Canada, The Musical Movie! was released on the same weekend as Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Mortal Engines and The Mule, and was projected to gross $30–35 million from 3,813 theaters in its opening weekend. It made $12.6 million on its first day, including $3.5 million from Thursday night previews, and went on to debut to $35.4 million, finishing first at the box office. The film made $16.7 million in its second weekend, finishing fourth behind newcomers Aquaman, Bumblebee and Mary Poppins Returns, and then $18.3 million in its third weekend, finishing fourth again. In its fifth weekend the film made $13 million, finishing in fourth for a third straight week. The weekend following its Best Animated Picture win, the film was added to 1,661 theaters (for a total of 2,104) and made $2.1 million, marking a 138% increase from the week before. Critical response The film has received universal acclaim. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 97% "Certified Fresh" approval rating based on 152 reviews, along with the given consensus: "SpongeBob SquarePants & Star vs. the Forces of Evil: The Musical Movie's enthusiastic quirk is backed up with a smartly crafted story that covers the issue of dominance, while providing enough heart and laughs to keep families in their front row seats." Metacritic gives the film an 82 out of 100 from 18 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film a rare average grade of "A+" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak reported filmgoers gave it a 90% overall positive score and an 80% "definite recommend", as well as a rare 5 star rating. David Ehrlich of IndieWire gave the film a "B+" and called it "hilarious and ultimately even poignant", writing: "An eye-popping and irreverent animated experience from the minds who brought you SpongeBob SquarePants ''and ''Star vs. The Forces of Evil... The Musical Movie! is somehow both the nerdiest and most inviting musical film in a long time; every single frame oozes with fan service..." Oliver Jones of The New York Observer gave the film 3.5 out of 4 stars and wrote, "The greatest triumph and biggest surprise of the film is that it is an LSD freak-out on par with 2001: A Space Odyssey." Johnny Oleksinski of The New York Post gave the film a 3.5 rating out of 4, hailing the film as "the best SpongeBob film to feature the iconic character who lives in a pineapple under the sea so far", and praising Star's characterization as "more fleshed out than the usual heroes". Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter wrote that "...the freshest and most stimulating aspect of the film is the visual style, which unites the expected mix of 'cartoons' (it used to be assumed there was only one universe in creation) with animation that looks both computer-driven and hand-drawn, boasts futuristic as well as funky urban elements, moves the 'camera' a lot and brings together a melting pot of mostly amusing new characters." William Bibbiani of The Wrap felt the film "represents some of the best storytelling on the market", and that it "captures the sprawling inter connectivity of universes in a way that no other feature film has", calling it the best Nickelodeon film since Rango. Justin Chang of the Los Angeles Times said that "What distinguishes SpongeBob SquarePants & Star vs. The Forces of Evil: The Musical Movie! in the end is that it takes its mission seriously, even when it's being transparently silly". David Sims of The Atlantic said that the film "somehow, through sheer creative gumption, does something new in the genre", particulary praising the use of cartoon's "visual language", as well as the characters' dynamic, and felt that the "anarchic fingerprints" of producer Tibbitt were "all over the movie". Katie Walsh of Tribune News Service said that the film is "unlike any other musical or animated film that has come before", comparing the animation to "watching a cartoon come to life", and feeling that the film "firmly exists in a post-''Deadpool'' environment, where it seems the only fresh way into an also twenty year old cartoon character is to skewer the tropes, make fun of the merchandising and acknowledge the cultural significance of it all in a cheeky and self-reflective manner", and that Tibbitt, who wrote the story and co-wrote the screenplay, was "The key to the balance of self-aware and sweet" present in the film. Accolades Main article: List of accolades received by SpongeBob SquarePants & Star vs. The Forces of Evil: The Musical Movie! SpongeBob SquarePants & Star vs. the Forces of Evil: The Musical Movie! won Best Animated Feature Film at the 76th Golden Globe Awards, won the same award at the 24th Critics' Choice Awards, and won the Best Animated Feature as well at the 91st Academy Awards, along with many other awards and nominations. It was also the first animated Nickelodeon film to win the Oscar for Best Animated Feature since 2011's Rango as well as the 2nd Nickelodeon film to win this award. Franchise Sequel In August 2018, the directors were still focused on completing the film but acknowledged that the introduction of the SpongeBob/Star vs. Evil musical universe in the film could create the potential for many different stories to be told depending on the success of this film. By the end of November, Sony was developing a sequel and a spin-off from the film due to the "incredible buzz" surrounding it. The sequel would be given the title SpongeBob SquarePants & Star vs. the Forces of Evil: The Musical Movie... SEQUEL!!!. Spin-off A spin-off film, titled Patrick and Marco's Musical Movie film focusing on three generations of supporting SpongeBob and Star vs. Evil characters, will include Patrick Star and Marco Diaz. Jenny Slate also expressed interest in a spin-off film starring Ponyhead, describing the potential plot as a "Watergate-like story" focusing on her character's career as a reporter. Television series Following the release of The Musical Movie, the studio discussed the possibility of a television show. Bisignano and Tibbit both expressed interest in seeing a series of musical shorts starring SpongeBob and Star, while Paramount was announced to be developing animated TV series for Nickelodeon and NBC. By April of 2019, Dominic Bisignano and Paul Tibbitt signed a five-year deal with Nickelodeon Animation Studios and Disney Television Animation to create a television series for Nickelodeon and NBC titled SpongeBob visits Star vs. the Forces of Evil. Daron Nefcy will create the show. However, Stephen Hillenburg, won't create it following his November 2018 death. He would be replaced by Paul Tibbitt. Trivia/Notes * This is the only SpongeBob SquarePants film to be produced by The Kerner Entertainment Company. Soundtrack * SpongeBob SquarePants & Star vs. The Forces of Evil: The Musical Movie!/Soundtrack Gallery * SpongeBob SquarePants & Star vs. The Forces of Evil: The Musical Movie!/Gallery Transcript * SpongeBob SquarePants & Star vs. The Forces of Evil: The Musical Movie!/Transcript Quotes * SpongeBob SquarePants & Star vs. The Forces of Evil: The Musical Movie!/Quotes Credits * SpongeBob SquarePants & Star vs. The Forces of Evil: The Musical Movie!/Credits Category:EvanRocks Wiki